


More Like Broken Arrow

by Capucine



Category: DCU, DCU (Animated), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Empathy, F/M, Hints of trans nature, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Not overly graphic rape, Season/Series 01, Season/Series 01 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-02
Updated: 2015-10-02
Packaged: 2018-04-24 12:22:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4919422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capucine/pseuds/Capucine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roy has apparently been keeping a big secret. But it all comes crashing down when he, Artemis, and Dick are captured by the enemy. Artemis does her best to save him, but will it be enough? And what about her sister?</p>
            </blockquote>





	More Like Broken Arrow

**Author's Note:**

> This is set before Red Arrow joins the League, but after he joins the Team.

One thing Artemis did know about Roy Harper: he was standoffish. She knew other things too: he was sometimes assholeish, private, did not appreciate any kind of condescending attitude. Well, more like he would murder someone for acting like he was less than them, but yeah.

He was strong. He was brave. He was sometimes a little paranoid, and very pragmatic at times. Rash as all hell.

And a lot of all that was there when they marched Roy into her cell.

But she learned something new about the guy who once said she was his replacement.

Roy was bound hand and foot, not unlike the way she was chained to the wall. But he was growling, and she, being an Alpha, could smell the fear pheromones coming off of him, anger, but mostly fear. And of course...

“You're an Omega?” she said, eyes wide.

He couldn't be. He didn't fit what they were supposed to be at all. He was too strong, forceful, aggressive...

There were no Omega superheroes that she knew of. Hell, she hardly knew any Omegas to begin with, though that had to do with her line of work.

“No shit,” he gasped, and he slumped when they threw him on the floor. He started to struggle, but even she could see his movements were feeble, tempered by...

Her eyes widened again. This was not good; she was young, and therefore, thank god, not as attuned to it as a fully developed Alpha would be, but Roy was quite obviously in heat. He shouldn't be. She'd lived around him for a while and he hadn't gone into heat.

Alphas did not finish maturing sexually until a good twenty years of age. Omegas, in a sick twist of fate, could take on a partner as young as fifteen, though there were plenty of historical cases of younger Omega mates.

They took the cuffs off. One of the men was chuckling, saying, “He thinks he's an Alpha. He must be particularly ****-minded.”

Artemis did not flinch at the derogatory term, but snapped, “He is just fine, thank you.”

The two men laughed, and Roy dove at them at that point. They'd underestimated him, or overestimated his heat; either way, he drew blood before they got him subdued again, Artemis's pulse pounding in her veins as she willed him to win, to overcome the natural weakness that came with a heat and somehow beat Mother Nature.

He couldn't.

They chained him by the wrists to the bars, forcing him to be on his knees, and kicked him into submission.

He was not without his anger. “Fuck you!” he tried, but the whimper was obvious. He looked like he hated it, his oversensitive reaction to pain and general stimulation. He growled through his teeth, “If you think you're going to live after this--”

They burst out into laughter. “If you think you're going to get out of this, little Omega--” the growl was very audible from Roy, “then you're more of a retard than I thought. Musta baked his brain on his first heat.”

Roy jerked against the metal keeping him there, but it was no use.

One of the men raised his boot to kick him again, but Artemis snapped, “Hey! Yeah, you, the one with the face that could melt rubber! You mess with Red Arrow, you're going to take on all of Young Justice, and let me tell you, we don't take kindly to people like you!”

She realized, with a shock, that she felt protective of Roy. God, the pheromones couldn't be getting to her already... right?

Roy seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he was glaring at her.

The guards just laughed, but they didn't kick Roy. They filed out, promising Roy he'd be calling them back within the hour. He told them exactly what they could do with their 'offers.'

As soon as the guards were gone, it was silent, except for Roy's breathing. He was the first to say something. “I didn't need your help.”

“Yes, of course, silly me, you love getting kicked to death,” Artemis sniped, adding, “Tell me you've got something to pick locks somewhere.”

He seemed almost grateful she wasn't asking questions about his nature. He took a deep breath, and started to move his boot forward. “Yeah. In the top of my boot. Not the most convenient place but ahh shit--”

He was taking deep breaths again, pressing his face against his arms.

“Arrow? You uh, okay?” Artemis asked, a bit cluelessly. She was an Alpha. Jade was an Alpha, her father was an Alpha, and her mother a Beta. She had little idea of what Red Arrow was going through.

He hissed, “Just don't look at me. Stop it!”

“Okay... Not looking.” Artemis turned her head. She thought she was doing really great for an Alpha around an Omega in heat. She'd always been told it was so hard to control yourself, that Omegas were almost irresistible.

Maybe it was because it was _Roy_.

She could hear him, hear him breathing and moving; he was obviously trying to get at the lockpick in his boot.

She heard a hiss of success—quickly followed by repeated exclamations of, 'Fuck, fuck, goddamnit!'

Looking over, she could see the lockpick... on the ground, just outside of the bars. She took in Roy's posture, not only the way his face was clenched in frustration, but the way his hands shook, the way his brow was beaded with perspiration.

He was not doing so well.

She should be taking care of him. She ought to be not only getting him free, but petting his head, soothing him with her scent, he was obviously in distress...

She shook her head. That was not how she wanted to treat Roy, and definitely not how he wanted to be treated.

“Hey, Red?” she was trying to get his attention off of everything, since obviously the lockpick was out of the question. “How come no one knows you're an Omega?”

He laughed a little, a bitter sound. “Who would take me seriously if they knew?”

“Your friends--” she started, but he cut her off.

“You see any Omega vigilantes out there? Is Superman an Omega? No? How about Black Canary? Any of the Green Lanterns? You notice Green Arrow putting off h-heat pheromones?” he growled, and then let out a strange noise, burying his face against his wrists again.

“Well, no, but that doesn't mean they'd reject you.” He didn't reply to her comment, so she tried again. “Does Green Arrow know?”

“Yeah, he knows. Why do you think he was so insistent on treating me as a sidekick and not a partner?” Roy growled again, “I didn't want him to know, I hid it at first--”

“High-grade scent and heat suppressants?” Artemis guessed, “Those are dangerous, aren't they?”

Roy was quiet a moment, then muttered, “It was worth it.”

“But wait, you always had a sort of... not a really strong Alpha scent, but it was always there. How did you--”

“I took something, okay? Not going to go into details with you, of all people,” Roy was quick to reply. He gasped again, like it hurt.

Artemis didn't know if it did. Why exactly would he choose to present as an Alpha when he could more easily present as a Beta? It made no sense. “Okay... then let's talk about something else...”

“How about you?” Roy snapped. “Where did you even come from? I know you're not his niece. I would have known about you. He has plenty of bastard kids, but only one sister, and she's not nearly old enough to be your mother.”

“Well, you don't know that. She's like, twenty-nine,” Artemis said, but the excuse was feeble and they both knew it. She sighed. She had to keep Roy's attention, had to keep him somewhat distracted from the obvious discomfort he was in. “Okay, I'm not his niece. Happy?”

“Not really,” Roy muttered, letting out another pained sound. He jerked his wrists again, and his breath whistled through his teeth. He was clearly soaked with sweat, but pretty coherent. “You know my secret identity,” he said accusingly.

She had to admit, that was true. Oliver had kind of given that completely away, whether he meant to or not; it was a ridiculously easy connection to make once she knew his identity. “Yeah...”

He took deep breaths now, not words.

“It's going to be okay, Red. You just need to breathe--”

“Don't tell me what I need!” he snapped, and weren't Omegas supposed to be all pliant or something? Submissive? But then, that could just be a stereotype.

Artemis sighed again. She wasn't going to give up her secret identity. She didn't know for sure how he would react to the information, or what he would do once they were free. She let out a low whistle through her teeth, saying, “Hey. Hey, Red. Look at me, okay? We're going to keep talking. Tell me about... your favorite color.”

Bad choice. He just let out a frustrated groan that was almost a whine, jerking against his restraints again. He was obviously suffering a lot, and she wondered if heats were supposed to be like this. He seemed to be in actual _pain_ , and that hardly sounded like sexy times to Artemis.

The few times she'd been with an Omega... they hadn't been on their heat, and she, being not fully matured, did not do things like try to claim them through biting their bond gland or some shit like that. That sounded like it would really hurt. In fact, a lot of the details she'd learned about what it would be like when she was done maturing sounded really painful.

She didn't get it at all.

It had been pleasurable, sweet, kinda sweaty, and not all that... claiming. Yeah, the first time was awkward, but...

Roy's pained panting brought her out of her thoughts. She had to do something. “Hey. Hey, Red. Is... is your heat supposed to be like this?”

He let out a weak, “No, fucking hell no,” that was obviously supposed to be angry but only came out as a plea for it to end.

Ah. That explained it; they must have dosed him up with something. Artemis tested her bonds again, not for the first time, but hoping she'd missed something.

She could smell fear on him still, but that was being engulfed, and she could feel herself start to get prickly, sensitive skin. She was immediately mad at herself. Yeah, they weren't that far apart in age, just about two years, and that was not unheard of, but this was Roy they were talking about. Roy fucking Harper. One of them or both of them would regret anything even remotely sexual between them, and it would make things horrible between the members of the team.

She wasn't going to get fucking turned on by one of her teammates in so much pain, even if he was in heat. “Red, it's going to okay. Only the three of us were captured, the others will find us.”

God, she hoped Robin was okay. She was pretty sure he was always okay, but in some ways, she wished he was here.

He might be able to deal better.

In other ways, he was thirteen and should not deal with an Omega in heat. Shouldn't have to, shouldn't need to, and shouldn't be forced to.

He was a Beta, though. He would be so much more able to handle all the pheromones.

She took a breath through her nose and regretted it instantly. She was feeling warmish, sort of electric. She didn't dwell any further than that.

“Red... It's going to be okay. I promise.”

“They're not gonna--” he choked off, whimpering again and she could see his fingernails digging into his hands. “Not gonna make. I can't-- I can't make it!”

She stared stupidly. An Omega couldn't be killed by an extreme heat... right? She strained for information in her brain, trying to remember... she did seem to recall the risk of things like heat stroke and nervous system overload.

But death?

Then again, he was seriously dosed up.

“You're going to make it. I'm going to make sure of that,” Artemis promised, and she wasn't sure if it was her Alpha instincts kicking in. Still, she could tell she was releasing calming pheromones.

He noticed too, and he looked almost like he would protest, insist he didn't need her help or her patronizing, but then he relaxed just a little, breathing a little more evenly.

Then he abruptly tensed, every muscle clearly on high alert.

She should have picked up the scent first, of course, but she caught it quickly, eyes snapping towards the door.

“Chesire,” she said, spotting her sister as she swung the well-oiled door open.

Jade was nineteen, almost twenty. And not wearing her mask, as she smirked at Artemis. “Hello. I thought I'd make sure neither of you were... completely indisposed yet.”

Roy was keeping quiet for once, almost as if he hoped she wouldn't notice, but of course, she did. She was an Alpha, there was no way she could just ignore the signals coming from him.

She stepped towards him, and Artemis almost snarled,

“Don't touch him!”

It was more protective than she was used to feeling about Roy, and he seemed to flinch at the sentiment.

Jade smiled, quirking an eyebrow. “Oh? Did you have your eye on him, Artemis?”

“No!” she snapped back, at the same time as Roy uttered a less vehement version.

He was glaring as he turned his face towards Jade, a challenge of 'touch-me -and-I'll-bite-you', but the fear pheromones were too obvious for either sister to ignore.

She smiled again, put a single hand on his back, and listened with apparent mirth at the way he sucked in a breath sharply and all his muscles relaxed at once, a sign of submission, before he got control of himself and tensed all over again.

He was practically growling now, fingers flexing and moving as he struggled with his bonds once more.

“Cheshire, this isn't funny,” Artemis snapped, a sort of fear going through her stomach. She wasn't sure if that was an Alpha thing, or she just genuinely cared about Roy and him not being royally fucked up.

“Oh, I don't think it's funny at all,” Jade said, not smiling, to her credit. That was probably only seconds away, though, her hand still on Roy's back. She made an idle stroke up his back, and the sound he made, half shock and half things Artemis didn't want to think about with Roy made a sort of heat in Artemis's body.

She cleared her head quickly, knowing his Omega scent was affecting her.

“Chesire--”

“Why the pretense, sister?” Jade wanted to know, though of course, she knew. She knew it all along.

If Roy was shocked, he wasn't letting on. He was breathing too fast, eyes squeezed shut and face streaked with red and sweat.

Artemis said, flatly, “Jade. Leave him alone.”

Jade gave her a smile, a sort of condescending look. “I'll admit, I was surprised to find out he was an Omega. He hides it so very well. I would bet no one on your team knew.”

Artemis just glared. Chances were, Robin might know, or he might've told Aqualad, but beyond that...

Jade smirked, “He doesn't trust the lot of you very much.”

“Yeah, well, the trust falls didn't go so well,” Artemis ground out, thinking that maybe she'd loosened one of the cuffs enough, and subtly playing with it with her fingers.

Jade laughed a little, and her hand started dipping lower on Roy's body, slowly sweeping down towards his lower back.

“Stop!” Artemis snapped, as Roy squirmed, letting out a harsh sound.

Jade did stop, hand just around his hip level. She gave her sister a mock-disappointed look. “Can't you see how much he's suffering? I'm just trying to help him. You wouldn't believe the strength of his heat—they measured his levels before putting him in here... my guess is, he's in more pain than he's letting on.”

Artemis growled anyway, even if she knew that what Jade was saying was true, even if it was said in a condescending tone. She glared, and she was sure she would get this cuff soon, so she just had to stall. “What? Can't get an Omega without having them chained down and helpless first, Jade?”

Jade didn't take the bait, laughing a little.

Roy grunted in apparent annoyance at being called helpless.

“Please, Artemis,” Jade said, shaking her head. “Don't be pathetic.”

Then her hand ducked down and in between Roy's legs, and he positively screamed, the fear pheromones coming off him in waves that seemed like they shouldn't be able to.

“No!” was the word he managed, fighting his chains so much that Artemis was quite certain he was going to break his wrists.

She tried emitting more calming pheromones, but it was no good; his fear was too strong. And it was affecting her, too, making her feel a protective surge in her body. Roy needed to be protected. He needed her, right now.

He was sobbing now, something she had never thought she'd see in a million years, even as moans made it past his lips. Whatever precisely Jade was doing, it was invasive and intimate and... helping. His posture spoke of less pain, though far more humiliation and fear.

“Sh, sh...” Jade said, in a surprisingly soft tone. He jerked, trying to get away from her, but there was nowhere to get away to.

Artemis didn't even realize she was growling until her throat started to hurt, needing to swallow. Focus, she told herself, getting angry would not help Roy. The cuff; she had nearly had it before she lost focus.

Just a little more, she thought. 

But her sister was slipping her free hand into Roy's waistband, and as soon as he realized she was about to expose him, he thrashed again, screaming.

Artemis's heart clenched, and she had to make fists to keep from... freaking out, she guessed. Even her toes were curled in, anger hot in her chest. That was her—no, that was Roy, her responsibility due to being her teammate, nothing more.

All the pheromones were confusing, and again, she wished Robin was here. As a Beta, he would be unaffected, and as Roy's friend, maybe able to soothe him.

And get her goddamn sister off of him.

“Hold still,” Jade said, but it wasn't her normal voice. It was an Alpha command voice, one thing that Artemis knew was nearly irresistible to Omegas in heat, and compelling in other circumstances.

Roy froze, body sort of slumped, before he started fighting again, twisting and moving to try to dislodge her grip. He struck out with a leg suddenly, and obviously he couldn't do much damage in his weakened state, but Jade caught his leg sharply anyway.

“Stop that. I'm helping you, idiot.”

“Not...no...” he managed, between sounds that Artemis was sure featured in some twisted Alpha's sex dream. Not hers. Not hers, she told herself, gritting her teeth and working on the cuff again.

Jade finally took her hand away from between his legs, and he seemed to slump a little. Then she used it to yank at his pants, and he snarled, but there was little he could do, and Artemis was seeing more of him than she'd ever thought she would.

He was pale. Pale and... clearly in the throes of heat.

When the pants were gone, he buried his face into his wrists again, and she could see the humiliation in his posture, the way he hated all of it with every ounce of his being.

He was more aware, more self conscientious, than the few Omegas she'd ever been with. But then, they'd actually wanted to be with her, and they weren't the throes of heat. It was a whole world of difference, she guessed.

“Believe it or not,” Jade said, almost gently, “My ideal setup is not in front of my sister. I am helping you, Arrow.”

He was shaking horribly.

“What did your Alpha do to you...?” Jade muttered, mostly to herself.

Artemis was sure she'd have the cuff soon. But she did say, almost without meaning to, “Jade, you're literally forcing yourself on him. Of course he's freaking out!”

Jade sighed, a sort of smirky, pitying on her face. “Oh, baby sister... You don't even know the kind of willpower it takes to act like this in heat. _Especially_ a heat like his. He should be calmed by the presence of an Alpha, and yet...”

He was breathing heavily again, pain evident in every gasp.

So was the fear.

Jade started stroking up and down Roy's sides, evidently trying to calm him. It wasn't working, at least not to Artemis's eyes.

He growled out, “Hands...off...”

Jade sighed. “I guess I'd better just try to end your misery now. Pity. I would have liked to at least... never mind.”

That made Roy frantic, and Artemis had no doubt what her sister meant, especially as she began to undo various ties on her clothes.

He was going to break bones; his wrists were already bleeding sluggishly, and if Artemis didn't act now--

The cuff came undone. It was a simple matter to undo the others, and Jade was not so absorbed that she didn't notice her sister coming towards her.

She stood, whipping out a pair of sai. “If I don't help him, the heat might drive him insane or worse, baby sister. So, you've got a choice here.”

“Why would it drive him insane? How would—how would we even survive as a species--” Artemis snapped, but Jade gave her a knowing smirk.

“Oh, it's pretty rare for it to be this bad. Something like, mm... one in a hundred million or so. Maybe even worse odds than that. But that's naturally. There's nothing natural about this heat.”

Artemis paused. She had to at least know what was going on. “So, they drugged him?”

“He drugged himself,” Jade said pityingly.

“Okay, that's a lie. Look at him, he would never do this to himself! Do you think I'm stupid? No, don't answer that,” Artemis said, ready to fight Jade here and now.

“No, not like that, my innocent sister. He's been on suppressants, very high-grade ones, for about five years. All my client did was flush them out of his system. That, and the Alpha hormones. This is the result of fucking with nature.” She said it with a bit of pity for Roy, but also the tone that suggested he had very much brought it on himself.

Artemis stared. She couldn't be telling the truth. Jade certainly knew how to lie, and maybe she felt that way about Roy and would lie about that...

Roy let out a choked noise, obviously trying very hard not to make noise or even react to the pain and arousal he was in.

“So, sister. Are you going to let that happen to him?” Jade asked, sai still drawn, but a more relaxed stance.

Artemis eyed Roy. She was trying to figure out what to do, trying to figure out if she could trust Jade. Obviously, Jade was not generally a trustworthy person, but... there did seem to be truth in what she said.

Then again, the best lies held some truth.

“I'm not going to let you do...nasty things all over him,” Artemis snapped, and she wished she had her bow or weapons.

Jade laughed. “Are you going to do it? Because I don't think you're quite... mature enough, to actually relieve it.”

Artemis's face burned. “And you are?”

“Barely,” Jade said casually. “I was an early bloomer, remember?”

Artemis growled. She wanted to protect Roy, something she knew was partially borne of the pheromones. Okay, maybe a lot borne of the pheromones, but he was her teammate and he was incapable of saving or protecting himself, so that made him her responsibility. “Look, I don't care. He doesn't want it, so, buzz off.”

“He needs it,” Jade said simply.

“So that gives you the right to just-just--!” Artemis tried to clear her head. “That's rape, Jade.”

Jade shrugged, though there was a hint of pity in her face. “He's not capable of consent either way, Artemis. Not like this. And, unfortunately, as you should know, sometimes unsavory things have to be done.”

That was when Artemis flew at her sister, weaponless and hoping and not really thinking it through much. She was very good, but Jade had the advantages: weapons, experience, natural strength.

It was a fierce fight, but Jade had Artemis pinned by the end. She smiled at her with gritted teeth. “Well, our first fight over an Omega! A milestone indeed. Not one I thought you'd attempt at the puny age of fifteen, of course, but that was up to you.”

Artemis's hands were quickly forced into a ziptie, as her were her ankles. This was almost worse than the cuffs, but of course, Artemis knew how to break zipties. It just took a little time.

“Don't you dare!” she growled, getting to work.

She could feel the pain radiating off of Roy, almost worse than the fear pheromones.

She couldn't quite see him, but she could hear her sister walk over to Roy, could hear the gasp as she must have initiated touching again.

The sounds next, as she worked on the zip ties, were painful to her heart: incoherent pleading, sobs, unwillingly made sounds of pleasure and arousal.

She was cursing the entire time, threatening Jade, but of course, it did no good.

A scream, this one different than any she'd heard, one that kind of latched onto her spine and stomach, was made, and suddenly, Roy was no longer making any sounds at all. She got free of the zipties just then, jumping up, but Jade was already headed for the door.

“You're welcome,” she had the gall to say, “He should be all right now.”

Artemis leapt for the door just as it slammed shut. It was too late, and Jade simply gave her a pitying smirk.

“Next time, maybe.”

And then she was gone.

Artemis turned her attention to her cellmate, as much as she kind of didn't want to. In some ways, she wanted to make sure he was all right, to tend to him. In others... she was a little scared of what she would have to face, and maybe uncomfortable.

Roy was breathing heavily, but not in the pained way of before. Instead, it was like someone who was in the tail-end of regaining their breath after serious aerobics. He noticed her looking, flinched away, snapping, “Don't look at me!”

But she kinda had to to get him free, so she gingerly walked over to where his wrists were bound, ignoring evidence of how his heat had been solved.

It still felt like a furnace being turned on high in terms of her anger, her need to make sure he was all right and Jade was not coming back, but she didn't look at him.

“So, uh... you okay? “

“No, I am not okay!” his voice broke a little, and she could see the top of his head as he buried his face against his trapped wrists again. There was still plenty of room for her to work, so she didn't make him stop.

She just didn't know how to deal with emotional stuff, so she said, a little weakly, “But are you bleeding or anything?”

He was clenching his teeth, she could tell, and he admitted, in this pained, small voice, as if it was damning, “No, I'm not bleeding.”

She wasn't entirely sure what was up with that, but the restraints came off with a click and then a clank as they fell to the floor.

“Hey. It's going to be okay, all right?” she said, wanting to reach out and touch him but knowing in her head that was the last thing he wanted.

He fell, losing his balance entirely. His body looked like his bones had been temporarily made of jello in terms of his strength to do things like move himself.

He didn't complain, of course. Roy didn't complain about discomfort. He complained about other things, of course, but never stuff like this.

Artemis took a deep breath, and then said, in as safe and trustworthy a voice as she could, “I'm going to pull up your pants, okay? Not going to stare, not going to like, touch you weird or anything.”

He seemed to accept it, though begrudging and with fear pheromones clear in the air. He must have recognized that he simply couldn't do it himself, not quite yet. That took more coordination than he had at the moment.

Delicately, she got a grip on his waistband, and then, in one, quick motion, she had his pants pulled back up. He might've looked like he was back to normal had he not been so flushed and sweat-soaked and just generally obviously fucked up.

“Come on, we've got to get out of here,” Artemis said, putting a hand on him to try to help him up.

He jerked back like it was poison, burning to the touch. He was glaring, struggling with something in his head, obviously.

Artemis crouched next to him, hands help up in a peace gesture. “Hey. Hey, Arrow. You know me. You know I wouldn't hurt you, right?”

He didn't immediately answer yes. He didn't actually answer at all, jaw set tight and eyes a mix between their red swelling and anger.

Artemis sighed. “Come on, Red. I would never, ever do that to you.”

“Your sister did,” Roy said flatly, though there was a hint of something in the background—anger, shock, general trauma-related something.

“Yeah, she did. I'm not her, Roy, I promise,” Artemis said softly, even though she wanted to be mad about the comparison between her and Jade. “Roy... what happened that made you do that to yourself? She said all the suppressants and hormones you took--”

“I needed to. It's not your business,” he snapped, still on the floor, practically curled up. He must have felt very vulnerable right then, and of course, Artemis didn't blame him.

“She said heats weren't supposed to be as bad as yours,” Artemis said uncertainly, sort of hovering nearby. She needed to get Roy out of here, but she also knew that he might fight her tooth and nail if she touched him.

“They're not,” he said flatly. After a moment, he groaned, eyes shut, “I haven't had a heat since I was twelve. I... I hate them.”

He wouldn't elaborate more, and so Artemis came a little closer. “Red. I need to help you out, since you can't walk on your own, okay? I'm not going to do the whole bad touch thing, your swimsuit area--”

“Not funny,” he growled, and she could see his fists clench.

She held out her hands, intending to calm him down. “No, no. Sorry. I wasn't trying to be funny, I swear. What I mean is... I swear I won't hurt you, or do anything that makes you feel...unsafe. Okay? Can you trust me, just this once?”

He looked at her through suspicious blue eyes. “What's your real identity?”

She almost groaned. He would surely be able to figure it out, what with Jade and all, when they got back, but still... then, she thought, it was only fair. And possibly the only way to get him to cooperate. “Okay, okay. It's Artemis Crock. I'm... the daughter of Sportsmaster and the former Huntress.”

She thought he would get mad. She thought he might freak out. Instead, he said, “...you seriously used your own name as your codename?”

“Yeah, well... you went by Speedy,” Artemis shrugged.

That brought the slightest laugh from him, and he allowed her into his space. She had him supported on her shoulders quickly, ignoring the way his body still trembled and was very warm.

She got him out.

If Robin noticed the scent when he reached them, he didn't comment. Knowing him, he already knew. But he did tuck something Roy's hand, a pouch.

Now, it could have been just his stuff, the things that were confiscated like Robin's belt.

But Artemis did not catch an Omega scent again after that day. And she wondered why he did what he did, and what help he was getting, if any.

It wasn't her business, though, and he kept her secret, so she kept his.

It would all unravel in the future, but she didn't know that at the time. For now, things rested in a delicately balanced, slightly comfortable way.

And that was all right, as much as her heart kept feeling pain for him and his guarded expression.

**Author's Note:**

> Gah. It's kinda weird. I just imagine that Roy Harper would really hate feeling weak, and that's one of the things that drives him. Also, if it's not obvious, he is what would be called I guess trans-nature in this world. His brain is Alpha, even if his body is not, y'know?
> 
> It's a mess, I guess.


End file.
